Hunt Rips UFC’s Jeff Novitzky Over Testing

Mark Hunt is considered by many to be a legend in the world of fighting. Beginning with his kickboxing career, and now in MMA, Hunt has become one of the most popular fighters in the UFC.

Now, Hunt has left the UFC following his last fight in late 2018, amidst a lawsuit against the UFC and former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar for his failed UFC 200 drug test, and the promotion of fighter’s like Lesnar who have been caught numerous times.

“They’ve actually taken my love for fighting away because of how they promote steroids and cheaters, how they’ve done it all,” Hunt told MMA UK recently. “They’ve pushed me out of the way, to be honest and that’s what’s taken my love for fighting away. It’s kind of sad because they should be promoting the guy that’s not cheating whereas they are promoting the cheaters of this sport, which is wrong. I actually thought Jeff Novitzky was a nice person but he’s just a sellout. You’re a sellout, bro. That’s the bottom line.”

Jeff Novitzky has been with the UFC as their VP of Athlete Health and Performance, heading up their anti-doping efforts. Yet, Hunt believes that the man who helped bring down Lance Armstrong for his doping violations, has opened the door for alleged cheaters like Jon Jones to get away with using PEDs.

“Pure example, look at the situation with Jon Jones and [Alexander] Gustafsson,” Hunt said. “Look at that situation. They move a whole freakin’ show for one cheating guy. All the fans miss out on all their airlines, all their flights, all that jazz. They miss out all because of this one idiot. . .

“The UFC has the best stringent testing in the whole freakin’ world but look what they’re doing. They give people four-month waivers so they can get past the tests, they’ve got these guys that say ‘The tests say has a picogram – a bit of steroids in him – but that’s from the last time we caught him.’ But he’s still got some sh*t in him. So does that mean he’s cheating? Yes, he is. Why are you even putting him to fight? The truth of the fact is, it didn’t matter whether he had a picogram now or if he had it 20 years ago, he’s still got some sh*t in him so he shouldn’t be fighting. It’s illegal. They’re promoting steroids, that’s what they’re doing.”

“I still want to be the world champion in MMA,” Hunt said regarding the final steps of his career. “I know I’m 44 but still it’s one of my dreams. It’s been put off for a little because of this stupid company. The moment I realized I was never gonna get a title shot, that’s the time I started losing. Since the Derrick Lewis fight, every fight after that has been not good at all. I actually went to see a sport [psychologist] about it and he hit it on the head straightaway when I talked to him: it’s hard to work for a company that’s cheated you and a lot of other fighters.”

“I want to fight five more times. I want to see if it’s time to retire or if working for the UFC just made me go sour. At the end of the day, it’s either-or. I still feel like I’m a lot better than a lot of those guys.”